Oprah Winfrey: Wealth Is 'A Good Thing'

People ^

[karnage]

She may or may not have gotten her shot because of some sort of quota attitude, but she has made herself enormously successful through talent and hard work. Many get opportunities. There is only one Oprah Winfrey. Just as there is only one Rush Limbaugh.

[luvbach1]

Oprah can feel just fine about being rich but she shouldn't expect those with assets 1/1,000th (or less) of hers to support the the expansion of the entitlement state she so reveres.

[cherry]

yeah, but do you think Oprah and her rich black kin would once just come out and say "I AM SO GLAD THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE BROUGHT TO AMERICA BECAUSE AMERICAN BLACKS ARE FAR BETTER OFF THAN ANY OF THEIR RACE IN AFRICA".....

no....we won't hear the blessings of being born an American.....

she is not the worse of course, but she still slips things into her program about how bad off and dissadvantaged her race is ......

and I'll bet she is all for more taxes on me and my working stiffs so the likes of her don't have to pay anymore....

and, IF it was brought up that from now on, ALL INCOME would be fully taxed for social security, .....well, we would see her true colors right away....IMO

[staytrue]

Oprah does a heck of a lot for people.

I disagree. People should feel good about themselves if they have something to feel good about. Oprah tries to get people to delude themselves into feeling good about themselves without doing anything else tangible. She is the queen of feel good. I think feeling bad about yourself is the first step to wanting to change something for the better.

[grey_whiskers]

I remember Oprah from the earliest days and no I don't think she's an affirmative action queen.

Do you remember her from her days as a Newscaster on WJZ, Channel 13, in Baltimore, before she even got the gig on People are Talking with Richard Scher?

Full Disclosure: BTW, whatever happened to him??

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

Sorry if that sounds harsh. It's just what I believe.

That might be why the wrong hand fills up first for you...

You owe it to yourself to find out more about the interplay of faith and prayer.

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

Some of your posts make me suspect you are a fan of Philip Pullman's writing.

No cheers, unfortunately.

[higgmeister]

I've never heard of Philip Pullman.

[dinoparty]

I'm with you.
Also,I'm sick of these people thinking that they should use their money to petition the government to raise taxes on the rest of us in order to take care of people. Just write the damn check yourself!!!

[dinoparty]

Oprah has done some good things, I'll grant, such as encouraging reading and sometimes picking some good books for her bookclub.

But everytime I think of her shows -- for example her post-Katrina trash -- I vomit.

[higgmeister]

Poverty is a mental disease. Barring mental or physical disaster, the so-called "poor" in this country are right where they are because of the combined affect of the decisions they have made in their lives. The decision to pay attention or not to pay attention to their education. The decision to work, or not to work. The decision to spend their weekends flopped on the couch or to get out there and work a second job in an attempt to get ahead. The decision to get pregnant with a child you can't afford to raise, or the decision to practice some sexual and reproductive responsibility. Drugs, or no drugs? Cigarettes, or no cigarettes? They make the decisions in their lives, and I'm damned tired of living the consequences. - Boortz.com

[CaptainK]

She doesn't feel guilty about her wealth, yet she said the entire US population should feel guilty about Katrina.

[dfwgator]

Bingo, that's the problem I have with her. She says she doesn't feel guilty, but if people with 1/100000 of her money don't donate the Katrina victims, they're heartless.

It's like those stupid TV benefits right after the disasters where all these rich celebrities are begging the poor people to give money.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

My mother holds money in a trust for my brother. Is this something to be ashamed of?

Can we not assume that someone like Gates has already spent a huge fortune in taxes? Not to mention, he is limiting his childrens' inheritance, to begin with. They won't have all of his funds to spend. Who cares? It is his money. Who is he to answer to?

[goodnesswins]

You don't understand....I'm all for capitalism and wealth....and part of that is being against DEATH taxes, after you have paid INCOME taxes, SALES taxes, UTILITY taxes, PROPERTY taxes, BUSINESS taxes, etc.....and then to TAX your estate when you are DEAD???? That is what I mean. My point is that the super rich hire lots of attorneys and accountants to AVOID the death taxes, and then tout them for everyone else.

[karnage]

I've never seen her show.

[higgmeister]

I'm all for capitalism and wealth....and part of that is being against DEATH taxes

It's just another Socialist way to level the playing field. You can't pass accumulated wealth to your progeny because you had to give it to the Government at your death. The Government then gets to redistribute it to others "less fortunate."

It kills two birds with one stone.

[goodnesswins]

"level the playing field".....YEAH, that's what they SAY....but really, they got THEIRS, and now they want to penalize others who might ALSO get theirs through their parents or whatever! It looks VERY elitist to me.

[grey_whiskers]

To a large extent that's true--I think it was Walter Williams (or was it Thomas Sowell) who said the way to get out of poverty in the US was to finish high school, wait until you are finished school and married to have kids, and keep a job.

Not too high of a barrier.

But there are car wrecks, hurricanes, catastrophic illnesses, lawsuits, divorces, etc.; not all of which are foreseeable or preventable to the degree you imply.

Cheers!

[durasell]

The "mental disease" of poverty is lack of hope. It's what compresses a person's time horizon to weeks or days (sometimes hours), rather than years or decades.

However the people who say "not my problem" do so at the peril of themselves and family.